Need a free word processing program

[Tama]

Al (my boyfriend)'s last computer died. This is unfortunate because two of my Nano novels were on there. Thankfully I emailed myself one of them.

However, his new computer has a POS wordpad (I can't locate word count, and spell check's not on)...and notepad.

Needless to say I do not want to rewrite the first two books (#1 was on a previous computer, but I got a proof copy of it) in NOTEPAD. Publishers would laugh at me.

So do you all know of any good free word-processing programs?

[Iced Coffee Man]

Have you tried OpenOffice?

[Buglady]

Open Office. I've been using it for years. Simple, stable, and free; it will save in .doc or .docx format, as well as its own proprietary format (.odt). The menu options are very similar to the older versions of MS Word, which I vastly prefer to the new layout!

And AAAAUGH! on the near-loss! :O Backup copies are your friends!!!

[Kittish]

I'll third OpenOffice. It'll do everything MSWord will do from the bit I've used it, it'll even handle Word files and documents.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I write everything in Google Docs. That way if my computer dies, it's all stored elsewhere.

Also, I can access if from any online computer and also from my phone (there is a Google Docs phone ap).

Works just like Word.

[Tama]

Thanks, guys. I'll try OpenOffice.

I couldn't do shit with Microsoft Office anyway. I could never find anything!

I would have hated to have lost my last Nano.

Merlin, Dracula (who rants abuot "fake vampires")...hehehe.

[DeltaSierra]

Open Office all the way. I have used it for years and love it!!!

[dalesys]

Though since Ork-er-all bought Sun most of the OpenOffice crew jumped ship and went to LibreOffice.

[Seshat]

My books were written in OpenOffice.

LibreOffice is - I am told - just as good.

[Rapscallion]

We tried Libre at work. Massive resource hog. That said, our computers here are criminally underpowered.

Rapscallion

[barcode]

I'd also echo Open (or Libre) Office, with a nod to AbiWord as a good second.

Now, if you use Open/Libre, and you have need of sending files to others who use MSO, then you'll want to:

- Install OO/LO as usual.
- Run it.
- From the main menu window's upper bar, select "Tools --> Options --> Load/Save --> Microsoft Office", and check all the boxes that deal with the MSO files you use. (You do not have to save settings, as this is done as you click!)
- Click on the "General" section above that, and use the drop-down menus on the right to select how you want the documents to be saved as default. Since Open/Libre were developed with "Open Sourcing" in mind (hence the naming), they default to using Open Document Foundation (ODF) standards. Microsoft refuses to use these with MSO, so if you send your friends one of your stories as an ODF, they will not be able to open it. This setting will allow you to save them as DOCs, and not have to worry about it. You may lose some formatting when converting, though, so use cautiously.

AbiWord should import/export DOCs just fine, too, but it doesn't allow them to be the default.

barcode

[ArcticChicken]

I've also seen Notepad+ mentioned as a good one, but I've never tried it.

[dendawg]

I forget....doesn't Open/Libre Office also allow saving as PDF?

[artcurmudgeon]

I want to put in a vote for abiword as well, if you are just needing a standalone word processor.

It is simple sleek and a no brainer to work with.

[Geek King]

I forget....doesn't Open/Libre Office also allow saving as PDF?

My version has a little button that says "Export directly as a PDF," so I'd say yes.

I've never noticed LO as a resource hog, but then again, it is running on a custom-made 64-bit gaming rig with eight gigabytes of RAM, so I'm not the person to ask about that.